The birth of the European citizens' initiative (ECI) was celebrated as a breakthrough in participatory democracy in the EU, but if we are honest, Europe still has a very long way to go. Tomorrow's vote in the European Parliament will determine its recommendations on how to improve the ECI - but this is just the first fight in a larger battle for a more democratic Europe.
The ECI has proven to be defective in its implementation and almost powerless in its impact. And what is more, initiatives that deal with core questions of the Union and propose changes to the founding treaties are rejected from the outset.
In its present form, the ECI is not the answer to citizens' distance to the EU, as those citizens that want to engage face major obstacles, are prevented from addressing the most relevant questions, and, still, their actions lead to no change.
With Parliament's report on the EU citizens' initiative, we stand a chance of changing this. The recommendations drafted by the constitutional affairs committee (and which will be voted on by all 751 MEPs in plenary tomorrow) contain far-reaching improvements to the EU citizens' initiative.
Access to the ECI is to be facilitated; the process should be made more dynamic and user friendly; Parliament even proposes to lower the participation age to 16 and to provide funding and guidance to campaigners.
However, the most decisive point to give the ECI teeth is at risk of being watered down: the impact that initiatives with one million signatures will have on policy. The main political groups - the European People's Party and the Socialists and Democrats - are proposing to remove Parliament's commitment to debate and vote on each successful ECI in plenary. They also propose to weaken the Commission's obligation to present a legal act within 12 months.
Only a proper follow-up will make the ECI a viable tool of citizen participation. If the ECI tool is not incorporated into the democratic process, it will remain an ineffective placebo. It is crucial that Parliament, as co-legislator and the EU's most democratic institution, helps anchor ECIs in the EU agenda.
What is more, the report excludes entirely a widening of the scope of the tool. To truly empower citizens, the ECI must be allowed to propose also changes to the Lisbon treaty. The political 'effet utile' of the ECI was to give citizens the same power as the European Parliament and the Council to propose new legislation; limiting citizens' participation rights to secondary law therefore contravenes the very spirit of the ECI. Given a highly complex 400-page treaty which regulates extensive policy areas, it is all the more important to allow ECIs to deal with primary law.
Democracy is a process, and it needs firm advocates to advance the cause. Civil society and citizens across Europe have mobilised in a petition calling for a better ECI. Now, it's up to MEPs to adopt an ECI report that calls for a revision of the regulation and which ensures a proper follow-up to successful ECIs.
A roll-call vote should put additional pressure on MEPs to stand up for democracy by voting for a strong reform of the EU citizens' initiative. After all, who wants to be on the record as voting against strengthening the rights of citizens who want to engage in Europe?